52 Gore Street
Waltham, MA 02453
Phone: 781-894-2798
http://goreplace.org
To see a large manor house reminiscent of those found in the countryside of merry old England, look no further. This was the property of Bostonian Christopher Gore (1758–1827), a one-time governor and US senator. He bought the four-hundred-acre property in 1786 and built a wooden summer home, which burned in 1799. Then in 1805 he began to build this, a more fireproof Federal design. The cost was $23,000, and many of the building materials were imported from (you’ve probably guessed it) England. The architect’s name has been lost, but it can be said with certainty that the architect was heavily influenced by the work of Sir John Sloane (1753–1837).
This house was the scene of many large and lavish parties. Hosted here were the Marquis de Lafayette (1757–1834), President James Monroe (1758–1831), and Daniel Webster (1782–1852).
Christopher Gore died in 1827, and his wife passed away in 1834. The contents of the house were sold at auction. The estate had a series of owners until 1921, when it became the Waltham Country Club. The house was surrounded with amenities like a golf course and tennis courts. That chapter came to an end with the Great Depression. Neglected, the house deteriorated. In 1935 it was threatened with demolition, and the property was to be subdivided for suburban houses. Fortunately the Gore Place Society intervened, bought the house and immediate surrounding acres, restored it, and opened it for tours.
The building materials are red brick, and the roof is slate. The main block of the mansion is two-and-a-half stories, with the wings on either end standing at one-and-a-half stories. One wing was the living quarters for the family and the other the living and work areas for the servants. The original wood carriage house (1793) survived the 1799 fire and is also open to visitors.